Stories for February 2nd 2012

President Cristina Fernandez would need a third term in office to complete her transformation of Argentina, her vice president said Thursday, feeding her opponents’ fears that the newly re-elected leader will try to change the constitution and stay in power beyond 2015.

Meryl Streep may have been nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady but Argentine critics reviewed the film as ‘mediocre’ during its premiere in Buenos Aires on Thursday.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández ruled out that the Government is planning to set a ceiling on this year’s collective bargaining and said that unions must “carry on with their salary negotiations freely by taking corporate profit into account.” She announced, however, the creation of a committee in order to follow them closely.

UK’s Prince William arrived on Thursday to the Falkland Islands amid simmering tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed South Atlantic Islands and in the year of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict.

The Royal Navy HMS Montrose has entered icy waters on the latest leg of its deployment in the South Atlantic. This latest stage of Montrose’s six-month trip has taken it to the edge of the ice fields to the extreme south of the Earth, reports Montrose Review.

The French Dassault Rafale has won the 10.4 billion dollars deal to supply 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian Air Force (IAF), India’s biggest arms deal which is also the world’s largest in recent years in terms of value as the contract is likely to go up to 20 billion.

Political controversy has erupted in Gibraltar following the outbreak of a Norovirus infection in a local hospital. The highly contagious virus which causes vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration is not unknown to the cruise industry which has been forced to cancel trips and isolate vessels.

Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s Prime Minister, is expected to meet with his British counterpart David Cameron later this month. According to Spanish press reports the meeting is likely to take place in London on February 21.